ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 is the first empirical chapter of the book and focuses on the relation between contextual situation and wage distribution fairness. It explores how three post-socialist societies (Hungary, East Germany, and the Czech Republic) differ in regard to the level of wage distribution fairness. It first gives a description of the differences and describes the trends in wage distribution fairness for each country. It then considers two main factors that could explain the observed differences. First, it explores how the transitional trajectories of the countries are responsible for the difference. Then it looks at how macrostructural effects vary across the countries and how macrostructural trends influenced wage distribution fairness in post-socialist countries. Last, the chapter considers whether a learning effect has occurred in the three countries. The key finding of the chapter is that the transitional trajectories of countries seem to be the most plausible influence on wage distribution fairness in the three countries.
